I mostly just plug my digital piano into my little digital multitracker (the most basic thing I could find in the store, $500). The result is... digital. I'm not keen on it at all.
A guy who's had decades of wide experience as a recording engineer in Nashville once gave a clinic on microphones, and he was a wealth of information! Some of his key points:
- you can make a good recording with pretty much any gear. Any functional gear that is... it's just a lot easier with the fancy expensive stuff.
- Use your ears! This was his main idea. There are so many variables in how an instrument sounds, recording isn't a science but an art. A piano will sound slightly different from every angle. Get somebody to play and try standing close to the piano, then on the other side, then back a few feet, at the back of the room, under the piano, inside the lid... Listen carefully to the difference in quality, figure out what you like best and put the microphone there. Having more microphones in different spots will give a different sound.
Beyond that I would leave it in the hands of professionals. I have a friend who's gone to school as a recording engineer and there's so much technology to know about, I would never have the time or patience to figure it out myself!
Topic: Quality of Recording